This invention relates to a device for facilitating the threading of a line, thread or other flexible elongate member through or beneath or around another element.
For example, deploying a fishing line along a rod by threading it from the reel through metal guide loops provided along the rod, can be an awkward operation. The invention seeks to provide a device which can be used to facilitate this threading operation as well as many other similar threading operations of a line or a thread or other thin flexible element, e.g. for weaving or possibly even stitching operations for sail-makers or carpet-layers or possibly even for surgical operations using a suture.
My British Patent Specification No. 2,130,157 describes a threading device for threading a mooring line through a ring on a dockside. The present invention provides a construction which is more suitable for the type of threading operations with which the invention is concerned where finer threads or lines are used. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,265,179; 4,352,330; 4,313,236; 4,357,889; 4,459,916; 4,462,316; and British Pat. Nos. 2,096,959; 2,097,052 and 2,108,578 disclose star-wheel devices used for systems generally supporting movable loads but are also unsuitable for the threading operations with which the present invention is concerned.